Raptors 905 capture first-ever D-league championship

The Toronto Raptors D-League affiliate, Raptors 905, won the first championship in its history Thursday night. (Courtesy Raptors 905)

Thursday was a good night for Toronto Basketball.

Just moments before the Raptors won their first series-clinching Game 6 in franchise history over the Milwaukee Bucks, their affiliate D-league club, Raptors 905, captured the 2017 title, taking down the Rio Grande Valley Vipers 122-96.

Raptors 905 dropped Game 1 on the road before returning home to the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ont., where it battled back to take Games 2 and 3 to capture the organization’s first ever championship.

Bruno Caboclo led the charge for 905 with a game-high 31 points as he shot 5-for-7 from beyond the arc and added 11 boards. Guard Fred VanVleet scored 28 while shooting nearly 60-percent from the field, and forward Pascal Siakim dropped 17 points. All three have seen court time in the NBA this season.

Proving this to be no minor feat, Raptors All Star guard Kyle Lowry took a moment out of his post-game presser to give a shout out to 905 on their victory:

“We are one team. We’re all equal. Without them we (Lowry and DeRozan) wouldn’t be who we are … We have a couple of guys in the D-league. Congratulations to them.”

Caboclo, VanVleet and Siakim are all expected to join the big club as the Raptors open up Game 1 of the second round in Cleveland on Monday.